The Emergence of Religious Science in the Post-Colonial Era
The question of “religious science” can arguably be considered the foremost, or at least one of the most critical, contemporary issues facing Muslim societies. Following the transition from the colonial era, the nature of scholarly and scientific engagement between Islamic societies and the Western world underwent fundamental transformations. The scientific hegemony of the West had marginalized the intellectual heritage of the Islamic world, calling its epistemological value into question. Amidst these developments, Muslim intellectuals adopted various approaches; however, the dichotomy between empirical “science” and science conceptualized as knowledge that unveils reality (‘ilm) emerged as the most prominent and highly contested paradigm.
Confronting Epistemological Foundations and Scientific Hegemony
Within this new context, novel definitions of science, intellect, and knowledge were introduced. Subsumed under the dominance of colonialism and accompanied by a cultural annexation, these new definitions morphed into a self-evident paradigm of science for the global community. Confronting this contemporary hegemony, the efforts of a group of Muslim scholars coalesced around the argument that this scientific configuration is not self-evident; rather, it is the product of specific epistemological foundations. Consequently, these underlying premises and principles can be subjected to dialogue, critical analysis, and scrutiny. Furthermore, if science is viewed as addressing the specific problems of any given society, one must independently analyze the structural distinctiveness of religious societies, their socio-intellectual heritage, and the singular challenges they face. It cannot be posited that merely because a particular social, political, or economic approach has proven effective in societies such as the United States or France, it will necessarily yield the same results in a vastly different society like Iran.
The Critique of Western Reductionism in Sociological Concepts
Moreover, the reductionist approach to fundamental concepts in the West raised profound and substantive concerns among Muslim scholars. For instance, the analyses of the essence of religion posited by figures such as Comte, Marx, Durkheim, Weber, and Freud—which stemmed either from their lived experiences with Christianity in Europe or from their ethnographic studies of primitive tribes—bore no congruence with the rational perspective of Muslims regarding religion, nor with its standing and social dignity within Muslim societies. Similarly, other concepts such as intellect and rationality, or teleology and purposiveness underwent so profound a semantic inversion that they could neither be fundamentally embraced within an Islamic society nor resolve any of the issues facing Muslims. To illustrate, the Muslim perspective on value-rational and purposive action fundamentally diverged from Weber’s formulations, which were heavily influenced by the specific socio-historical conditions of the societies he studied. Collectively, these factors engendered a pressing need to deliberate upon foundational principles, including the meaning and status of religion, philosophy, intellect, and transmitted knowledge.
The Ongoing Challenges of the Religious Science Paradigm
Within such an intellectual milieu, Muslim scholars initiated discourses around a novel paradigm that came to be known as “religious science.”[1] The prevailing dominance of empirical science spawned numerous intellectual currents and approaches that opposed religious science. Consequently, despite the nascent stage of the religious science movement and the ongoing endeavors of Muslims to establish an acceptable epistemic foundation for it, the paradigm was confronted with a multitude of external critiques and challenges.
Notes and References
[1] Hamid Parsania, excerpt from Twenty Questions About Religious Science.
